BBVA and the European Investment Bank Group (EIB) announced on Thursday they have signed a synthetic securitization of €1 billion. According to the duo, this agreement is an innovative financing operation and it is claimed the first synthetic securitization to be supported by blockchain technology in the European Union (EU) and the third synthetic corporate loan securitization signed by the EIB Group and BBVA. Along with the agreement, BBVA and EIB Group are set to provide €360 million to finance investments projects of SMEs and midcaps.
“The agreement has been possible thanks to the support of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). EFSI is the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe, known as the “Juncker Plan”. Its support increases the EIB Group’s capacity to finance investment projects that, in line with the Plan’s criteria, involve activities that by their structure or nature have a higher risk profile but which foster firms’ competitiveness and create jobs.”
While sharing more details about the agreement, EIB Vice President, Emma Navarro stated:
“We are delighted to support the EIB Group’s third mezzanine guarantee operation in Spain Thanks to our partnership with BBVA, Spanish SMEs will be able to benefit from the advantages of our financing. This agreement combines EIF’s and EIB’s resources under the Juncker Plan to increase BBVA’s support for Spanish businesses, fostering job creation and economic growth”.
EIF’s Chief Executive, Pier Luigi Gilibert, also commented:
“SME synthetic securitisation agreements are deployed by a number of European banks to provide regulatory capital relief. EIF is pleased to be working with BBVA and the EIB to allow BBVA to provide additional access to finance for Spanish SMEs. Joint EIB and EIF support via EFSI funds offer a competitive solution for BBVA which will serve to boost the supply of finance in the real economy”.
The CEO of BBVA, Carlos Torres, then added:
“BBVA is committed to boosting the growth, competitiveness and digitization of the Spanish SMEs. In addition, we are proud of the DLT platform developed in-house by BBVA, which was used to negotiate this agreement.”